User blog:Tybaltcapulet/Geronimo vs Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt: '''The exuberant Rough RIder who defeated the Spanish at San Juan Hill and became America's 26th president '''vs Geronimo: '''The medicine man who slaughtered many Mexicans and rose up against the United State's expansion '''WHO IS DEADLIEST?! Theodore Roosevelt Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt, Jr. was the 26th President of the United States (1901–1909). He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the first incarnation of the short-lived Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party of 1912. Before becoming President, he held offices at the city, state, and federal levels. Roosevelt's achievements as a naturalist, explorer, hunter, author, and soldier are as much a part of his fame as any office he held as a politician. Roosevelt was 42 years old when sworn in as President of the United States in 1901, making him the youngest president ever; he beat out the youngest elected president, John F. Kennedy, by only one year. Roosevelt was also the first of only three sitting presidents to have won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Teddy bear is named after him, despite his contempt for being called "Teddy". Geronimo Geronimo was a Native American medicine man and war leader of the Chiricahua Apache tribes. Born on June 16, 1829, Geronimo was given the title "Goyakhla", "one who yawns." After Mexicans attacked Geronimo's camp and killed his family, the Native American rose up and raided Mexican and American towns and people. He had a strong desire to push Americans out of the West. Geronimo evolved into a revolutionary and spiritual leader who raised the Apaches against Americans during the American Indian Wars. In 1886, after being pursued by the 4th Cavalry, Geronimo along with some of his own tribesmen were captured and made into prisoners of war. After being released from imprisonment, Geronimo fell ill of pneumonia and died of his sickness on February 17, 1909. Melee Bowie Knife (Roosevelt) A Bowie knife is a pattern of fixed-blade fighting knife created by James Black in the early 19th century for Jim Bowie, who had become famous for his use of a large knife at a duel known as the Sandbar Fight. Since the first incarnation, the Bowie knife has come to incorporate several recognizable and characteristic design features, although in common usage the term refers to any large sheath knife with a crossguard and a clip point.The knife pattern is still popular with collectors; in addition to various knife manufacturing companies there are hundreds of custom knife makers producing Bowies and variations. Length: 12–18 in Weight: '''2lbs Tomahawk (Geronimo) The Tomahawk is a Native American axe typified by its small head. The first metal Tomahawk heads were used as trade items, and based off Royal Navy boarding axe heads. The tomahawk has straight handle. The axe was used both as utility tool and as a weapon, both by Native Americans and by American colonists. The opposite side of the blade usually had a spike, a hammer, or in the case of some tomahawks designed mostly as showpieces, a pipe. '''Length: '''2-3 feet '''Weight: '''9-20oz Sidearms Colt M1892 (Roosevelt) The '''M1892 Colt Army & Navy was the first general issue double-action revolver with a swing-out cylinder used by the U.S. military.The revolver featured a counter-clockwise rotating cylinder, which could be opened for loading and ejection by simply pulling back on a catch mounted on the left side of the frame behind the recoil shield. It was easily manipulated by the thumb of the right hand, and upon release the cylinder could be poked out sideways with the shooter's forefinger. Empty cases were removed by simply pushing back on an ejector rod to activate a star extractor. The six-shooter could then be quickly reloaded and the cylinder clicked back into place. Weight: '2.07 lbs. '''Length:'11.5 inches (292 mm) 'Round: '.38 Long Colt 'Capacity:'6-round cylinder, single-shot 'Muzzle Velocity:'770 ft/s (235 m/s) Colt Single Action Army (Geronimo) The '''Colt Single Action Army 'revolver (also known as the Peacemaker) is a single-action revolver developed in the 1870's for U.S. military use. It saw extensive use in combat in the Plains Indians Wars (finding its way into the hands of the Native Americans themselves) and in the wars with Mexico. It was also used extensively by Cowboys. ' Weight:'2.2 lbs. '''Length:'11 in. '''Round:.45 Colt (11.43x33mm) Capacity:'6-round cylinder, single-shot '''Muzzle Velocity:'960 ft/s Rifles: Winchester Model 1876(Both) '''Winchester rifle is a comprehensive term describing a series of lever-action repeating rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Developed from the 1860 Henry rifle, Winchester rifles were among the earliest repeaters. The Winchester Model 1876, or Centennial Model, was a heavier-framed rifle than the Models 1866 and 1873, chambered for full-powered centerfire rifle cartridges suitable for big-game hunting, rather than the handgun-sized rimfire and centerfire rounds of its predecessors. While similar in design to the 1873, the 1876 was actually based on a prototype 1868 lever-action rifle that was never commercially produced by Winchester. 'Weight: '''9.5lb (4.3kg) '''Length: '''49.3in (125.2cm) '''Round: '.44-40 Winchester 'Capacity: '''15-round tube magazine X-factors: Tactics Roosevelt: Roosevelt's tactical achievements are actually quite lackluster. His most famous battle that he took part in the Battle of San Juan Hill, was pretty unimpressive, as he led his men in a straight line right towards enemy fire. Geronimo: Apaches like Geronimo would use guerrilla warfare including, hit and run tactics, ambushes, and would attempt to avoid most major confrontations. Experience Roosevelt: For military experience, Roosevelt only really has the Spanish-American which he was a participant in, but the war only lasted less than a year. Geronimo: Geronimo had experience since his twenties after his village was raided by a Mexican militia and his family was killed. He took part in multiple revenge raids against them, and then took part in the Apache-US war over many years. Brutality Roosevelt: Really the only brutality worth mentioning for Roosevelt is how he simply threw his men (in a straight line no less) right into enemy fire, completely disregarding them. Other than that there weren't really any war crime recorded in the Spanish-American war. Geronimo: Geronimo's hatred for Mexicans caused him to indiscriminately kill them with a special vehemence. As for everyone else, his only motivation for combat was to defend his land, and he no real animosity towards the U.S or most white settlers. Training Roosevelt: Roosevelt really didn't have much formal training, but it can be inferred that he at least was trained in basics firearm usage and other basic training rudiments. Geronimo: The Apaches were a raiding culture and therefore and any real training that Geronimo would receive would be while raiding. Tactics, basic weapon usage and discipline would be instilled in these raids. Setting/Voting This battle will be a 10 v 10 skirmish in a desert in New Mexico. Roosevelt is sent to scout out new territory there after his victory at San Juan Hill. He creates a small base in the desert and summons a scouting party. Geronimo will ambush them during their own patrol, as they are searching for a group of Mexican soldiers who razed a small village of theirs. Format 1: Detailed edge based vote with good grammar and that isn't just a couple of words or a sentence. Format 2: 7 sentence paragraph detailing why you believe a certain warrior will win. Votes like: "Geronimo cuz Apaches rock" or "Teddy Roosevelt cuz the Rough Riders kick butt" will not count. X-factors are not required in your vote but are appreciated. I hold the final say as to whether a vote counts or not, guidelines not withstanding.Voting will end when I am satisfied the the quality and quantity of votes. Battle Major General William Rufus Shafter's Office, San Juan Hill, July, 2, 1898 The day had just been won at San Juan Hill, enabling the U.S Army to push forward on the Spanish even farther. But now, there were too many soldiers to take the limited arms they had. So the generals met together and decided that some of the competent officers there would be more useful in the new revision of the southeast territory, as the United States, once again wished to expand its influence. One of the officers considered first for a piece of the mission was Theodore Roosevelt. Strong, decisive, and willing to serve his country no matter what peril it put him in. He walked down the front hall of the building the generals were using as a temporary outpost. It was an abandoned hospital, refurbished with small barricades and guards at every entrance. As he made his way into their office he immediately saluted his superiors. " Colonel Theodore Roosevelt of the 1st Volunteer Calvary, reporting for duty Sir!" Roosevelt exclaimed. "At ease" Major General Shafter calmly voiced. Roosevelt moved his hand back to his side. " We have heard of your brave charge at Kettle Hill and have decided that you are needed on a more important front, as we have a large surplus of soldiers." " You will be sent to the desert of New Mexico, where you will branch off with various other experienced officers, and establish a camp so that we can begin to reinforce our expansion." "Permission to freely sir?" Roosevelt uttered with reverence. " Permission granted" " How many men will I be in command of sir?" "We expect there to be only light resistance, so you'll be leading about 30-35 men and so will the majority of the other officers in the area." Roosevelt was quite satisfied, as he believed that he would be understaffed and would be left to suffer in the desert against whatever resistance there would be, even if it was light." Do you have any more questions Colonel?" General Shafter queried. " No I do not sir." Roosevelt replied "Then you have your orders Colonel, you may leave." Roosevelt then saluted again, and left the room, determined to follow the orders no matter what got in his way, whether it be man or nature. Near an Apache Village, somewhere in present day New Mexico, July, 4, 1898 " ¡Vamos chicos! ¡Tenemos que salir de aquí!"(Come on guys! We have to get out of here!). That was the sound of Mexicans searching for gold,attempting to flee back to their homeland after running into some "unfriendly elements" . Instead of finding the "gold" they were supposed to find ( A Dutchman who claimed to have been in the area, directed them to the site), they instead ran into a group of Apaches led by the famous Geronimo. They were certainly unlucky today, as Geronimo, as it was well known, had a hatred for all those who hailed from Mexico. As they moved through the rocky desert, they could hear the Apache warriors getting closer and closer one of them tripped. The others stopped to help him, and this allowed their adversaries to close the gap. A shot fired, hitting the fallen straight in the chest, killing him instantly. By the time the others could react, it was too late. The Apaches were upon them and decapitated them all with their tomahawks. Geronimo simply smiled and ordered his men to leave the bodies to rot and to continue their patrol of the desert. They made their way down a small gully where they had left their supplies so that they could restock when needed. After resupplying themselves, they climbed over the gully, which led directly to a massive expanse of mostly empty land. But instead of seeing the normal emptiness he was used to, he saw tents, a campfire and various American flags " The United States have come to capture me once again" he rasped. Geronimo had escaped as a prisoner of war many years before and the U.S had attempted numerous times to bring him within their influence once again. And every time they had failed, essentially sending men to their deaths. But never had Geronimo seen such a large force be dedicated to his seizure. But he noticed something very important about the group. The leader of the group appeared to be taking a smaller part of the men to presumably conduct some type of search or patrol. They were sitting ducks, inexperienced with the land, and unaware of the danger they were about to get in. New Mexico, July 4 1898, Roosevelt's Patrol Meanwhile, in Roosevelt's patrol, his men were getting quite restless, wondering why they had decided to venture off so early. It hadn't even been an hour before their commander had decided they needed to abandon their compatriots to go search some god-forsaken desert. One older man especially irked by this, Jebediah Owens vocalized " Why in the name of God's green Earth, are we trekking through this massive desert where God knows what could happen to us?". A younger, especially spirited boy named Jessie Streeter smacked him in the shoulder. " Shut the hell up and keep walking Jebediah, you've been complainin' since Las Guasimas". Jebediah only snorted in response, not wanting to remember his blunder(He neglected his sleep one night and in the morning of the Battle of Las Guasimas, accidentally cut his hand deeply with his utility knife) that made him so cranky. Roosevelt even upon his horse and focused on the trail ahead, heartily laughed, fully remembering how entertaining it was to watch him jump around in pain his hands clasped together. Everyone joined in and as Roosevelt was about to sound off to get his men to stop, a small *crack* sounded instead, just barely missing Jebediah's ear making him fall to the ground in pain and shock. The rest of the troops immediately moved down a very small ditch on the path. All except for Roosevelt, who quickly took out his binoculars and desperately searched for whatever enemy could be there. Theodore Roosevelt: x10 Geronimo: x10 After about 3 seconds, he finally saw a short Native American man with about 9 or 10 others running loosely towards his position. Then, as his men were attempting to fire back, his horse was shot straight in the stomach, making it panic and run in a random direction, knocking Roosevelt into the ditch. Pulling out his Colt M1892, he began to fire straight at the enemy, while the others used their Winchesters. Roosevelt knew that if he stayed in this position, he would be surrounded by the Natives in a melee battle which would be heavily in their favor. He ordered his men to get up and charge towards the enemy, but Geronimo and his men had disappeared. Roosevelt did a head count and he was confused when he was one off. They then inspected the ditch, where they found one of their Rough Rider friends with a hole where his eye used to be. Roosevelt simply stared at the body, shaking with rage. It was Jebediah. He was grumpy, cantankerous, complained a lot, but his loyalty never wavered. In the middle of his thoughts Jessie angrily shouted " Let's kill them all! Jebediah'd do it for all of us! Blow their red heads straight to hell!" Roosevelt would usually be annoyed with such an outburst, as it caused chaos, but he simply walked towards Jessie, put his hand on his shoulder and plainly stated " Alright Private, you lead the way" The rest of the men walked in silence towards where they last saw the Apache warriors, down into a large ravine, as spread out as possible in the limited space they had. Everyone was very much on edge, reacting to every noise in the area, whether in be small or large. ''Geronimo's Point of View "Kuruk, scout out the area on the left, Norroso, the right" Geronimo whispered to two of the warriors. They silently obeyed, slowly creeping along the high desert rock. They soon reach a position where the two warriors could observe the movements of their white adversaries.But Kuruk, too focused on them, slipped a tiny bit, making enough noise to reveal his position. About 200m away one of the Riders fired his Winchester, hitting Kuruk square in chest, killing him instantly . Norroso, spooked, ran away as fast as he could while firing a couple shots of his Single Action Army, suppressing them just enough to escape without harm. Geronimo had heard the shots in the background, and immediately ordered the others to rise, as he realized his plan had obviously failed. He saw Norroso sprinting towards him, and Geronimo stopped him to ask him what had happened. Norroso cried " Kuruk had slipped on the rocks, and the white men killed him." Geronimo simply sighed and cursed to himself, knowing that he would need to supervise his troops in the next attack. The warriors then again traversed the rocks, this time much more slowly and carefully, making sure they didn't slip. They saw Roosevelt's troops buckle down and establish a small perimeter, ready to defend. Roosevelt's Point of View " Alright men, we got one of them red bastards,but there'll be more where that came from, so when we get the chance, we'll charge straight up the end of this ravine and attempt to cut them off" Roosevelt momentarily put his Colt away, and pulled out his binoculars again, searching on the sides to find more Apache warriors. He could see none. Roosevelt then put his binoculars away and cautiously ordered his men too begin their pursuit to the end of the ravine. They were getting close, when to their surprise, all of Geronimo's men appeared at once, leaving them completely vulnerable. Norroso pulled out his Single Action Army again and shot one of the Rough Riders in the chest, going into his lung, and killing him almost instantly . Another Apache warrior fired two rounds into another Rider, again killing him instantly . As Roosevelt immediately blasted a hole straight through one of the Apache warrior's throat, causing him to fall of the cliff and fracture his skull and ribs . But again as he raised his Colt, they were nowhere to be seen. Wanting to keep the initiative, Roosevelt wasted no time ordering his men to charge up the remainder of the ravine where it led to a very rocky part of the desert with rather limited visibility. "Danny! You take James, Franklin and Frederick to the left side, and I will lead Jesse and William on the other" Daniel Webbins had been a loyal and headstrong soldier for many years, always being a the forefront of any charge or maneuver he was in. As he and the others in his detachment moved through the rocky part of the desert they were forced to weave back and forth with the difficult terrain. Now being used to the Indian tactics, he ordered his men to look around constantly, and remain in a loose formation the whole time. This was something he was very unused to, but Daniel knew that was his only option if he wanted victory and revenge. Franklin, being on the far left side saw the next ambush first. Norroso appeared before him, and slashed his tomahawk, just barely missing him. Franklin then reacted almost instantly, and stabbed the warrior straight in the throat, resulting in a short bloody wheeze, and another deceased Apache . Then another warrior behind him, took out his Colt, fired, and missed. But before he could cock his pistol again, a Winchester round penetrated his chest, forcing him backwards and making him fall straight of the small rocky height .Utterly confused on the small ambush, Daniel and the others didn't realize that the rest of the Apache forces had already moved on the other side, ready to take advantage of their lack of focus. Almost as if it were a volley, Geronimo's forces fired at the same time, immediately ripping apart Franklin and James with a hailstorm of bullets . Daniel and Frederick, however were unharmed and took the closest source of cover they could find. " Keep firing at them red bastards Frederick!", Daniel screamed. And Frederick did, hitting one square in the neck, killing them almost instantly . Daniel drew his pistol and fired, hitting another in the shoulder. The man he hit lost his awareness, and peeked out of his cover, letting Frederick finish the job . Their luck was short-lived though, as they were eventually overrun, and flanked from all sides. They were also low on ammunition, and going to reload, as they were mowed down by multiple shots, going through their heads, legs, arms etc . Roosevelt had attempted to come back and help his men, but he was too late, and only found bodies in place of his men. Roosevelt had to get to some even terrain, with no height at all, but he couldn't find any. But the lowest area he could find was straight in front of him, about 500 meters away, and all he had to do is run for the piece of land. It had large rocks for cover, the high ground was hard to fire from, and was filled with light, making an ambush pretty hard to accomplish. After just about sprinting for a whole 2 minutes, the remaining 3 men made their way to what they believed to be the perfect spot to cover. But the most perfect spots have their weaknesses Geronimo's point of view Roosevelt had again fallen for the Apache warrior's trap, as there was only one entrance easily accessible by foot. Everything else in the area was either too steep or too high to reach quickly, which would give him the limited time he needed to successfully take down his opponent. As Roosevelt's men made their way sprinting their way into the supposedly defensive spot, Geronimo's remaining men, hid behind the cover right next to the entrance of the area. Then, once the Rough Riders made their way through the entrance, Geronimo split his force up, with himself and one warrior on one edge , and two other warriors on the other. " Wait a minute, did you hear that?" Jesse whispered. Roosevelt then realized that not a single Apache had approached them on their movement to the cave-like position. "Shit..." Roosevelt cursed to himself, realizing this is exactly what his foe wanted. " Get the hell to cover, men!" Roosevelt screamed. Geronimo ran his men straight towards their adversaries, tackling all of Roosevelt's men to the ground. Jesse, easily took his opponent down with a single stab to the neck . Roosevelt too, took down the man going after him, slashing his throat . But James was unlucky, as the tomahawk going against him landed in his gut, where he quickly bled to death . Jesse and Roosevelt charged straight into Geronimo's last comrade, and not looking, Jesse tripped on a large rock falling straight on his face. The Apache fired the last bullet in his Single Action Army, penetrating his skull . Roosevelt however, was able to get to the warrior and punched him several times in the face, and stabbed him three times in the arm, chest and head . Roosevelt yelled in victory as he forgot about Geronimo, who directly behind him, threw his tomahawk straight into his back. He smiled as he simply walked over to Roosevelt, who even while dying, had a fire in his eyes. Geronimo then shot him with his Winchester, killing him instantly . Geronimo screeched in victory, driving the white man away once again. Expert's Opinion Roosevelt's weaponry may have been slightly better, but he was utterly destroyed in tactical ability. Geronimo's homefield advantage and hit and run tactics enabled him to be mobile and take advantage of Roosevelt's headstrong leadership and lack of terrain knowledge.